Method of deleting and adding nodes in a spanning tree network by collating replies from other nodes

摘要

A computer forms a node in a network, consisting of computer nodes linked together into a minimum spanning tree topology. When a computer receives a message from a first node linked to it, it forwards the message to other nodes linked to that computer, as well as storing information about the message. As replies are received from the other computers, they are stored and collated together, to allow the computer to send just a single reply message back to the originating node based on the collated replies. This single reply is in turn collated at the next node. The message requests deletion of a particular node from the network. No node deletes the node from the network until replies have been received from all the nodes to which the message was forwarded.